China’s Shanxi Sanwei plans BDO, PTMEG capacity expansion

19 September 2011 09:11[Source: ICIS news]

GUANGZHOU (ICIS)--China’s Shanxi Sanwei Group is planning to expand the capacity of its butanediol (BDO) unit at Hongdong in Shanxi province by 100,000 tonnes/year to 250,000 tonnes/year to meet rising demand, the company said on Monday.

The company also plans to build a 30,000 tonne/year polytetramethylene ether glycol (PTMEG) unit to increase its total capacity to 85,000 tonnes/year, the company said in a statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

The expansion work is expected to cost around yuan (CNY) 1.5bn ($235m), the statement said.

The company is likely to begin construction at the two units six months later after raising funds for the project, and complete the construction within 18-24 months, a company source said.

Shanxi Sanwei is running its 75,000 tonne/year maleic anhydride (MA)-based BDO unit at 50% of capacity, said the source.

The company’s other 75,000 tonne/year BDO unit that uses acetylene and formaldehyde as feedstock is running at 90%, added the source.